Hypoxia enhances buffalo adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cells proliferation, stemness, and reprogramming into induced pluripotent stem cells

Abstract

Adipose tissue‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) from livestock are valuable resources for animal reproduction and veterinary therapeutics. Previous studies have shown that hypoxic conditions were beneficial in maintaining the physiological activities of ASCs. However, the effects of hypoxia on buffalo ASCs (bASCs) remain unclear. In this study, the effects of hypoxia on proliferation, stemness, and reprogramming into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) of bASCs were examined. The results showed that the hypoxic culture conditions (5% oxygen) enhanced the proliferation and colony formation of bASCs. The expression levels of proliferation‐related genes, and secretion of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were significantly enhanced in hypoxia. Hypoxic culture conditions activated hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α), thereby contributing to the secretion of bFGF and VEGF, which in turn enhanced the expression of HIF‐1α and promoted the proliferation of bASCs. Furthermore, in hypoxic culture conditions, bASCs exhibited the main characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells, and the expression levels of the pluripotent markers OCT4, NANOG, C‐MYC, and the differentiation capacity of bASCs were significantly enhanced. Finally, bASCs were more efficiently and easily reprogrammed into iPSCs in hypoxic culture conditions and these iPSCs exhibited some characteristics of naïve pluripotent stem cells. These findings provide the theoretical guidance for elucidating the detailed mechanism of hypoxia on physiological activities of bASCs including proliferation, stemness maintenance, and reprogramming.

Theca cell‐conditioned medium enhances steroidogenesis competence of buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) granulosa cells

“…As one of the leading domestic animals in southern China, buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis ) is widely used to provide labour, meat and milk (Deng et al., 2019; Deshun et al., 2007; Lu et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2020). To our knowledge, there have been no published reports with respect to the effects of TC‐conditioned medium (TCCM) on oestrogen production in buffalo GCs.…”

Antioxidants inhibit cell senescence and preserve stemness of adipose tissue-derived stem cells by reducing ROS generation during long-term in vitro expansion

“…Cell functions of ADSCs are primitively retained by the in vivo physiological microenvironment, including cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions [7]. Currently, many strategies such as hypoxia [8, 9] and three dimensional (3D) culture methods [4, 10] have been used to maintain ADSC functions by providing proper niche or mimicking native microenvironment. However, these strategies will bring some disadvantages.…”

Theca cell‐conditioned medium added to in vitro maturation enhances embryo developmental competence of buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) oocytes after parthenogenic activation

“…As one of the most economically important domestic animals in southern China, buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis ) is widely used to provide labour, meat and milk (Deng et al., 2019; Deshun et al., 2007; Lu et al., 2018). To our knowledge, there have been no published reports on the effects of TCs in the form of conditioned medium on IVM of buffalo oocytes.…”